Reviews with content warning for Death - Monkey Beach

Reviews tagging 'Death'

Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson

22 reviews

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Monkey Beach opens with Lisamarie’s brother Jimmy being reported missing in a boating mishap. As she races to the scene she remembers much of her growing up years in Kitamaat, the Haisla Indian reservation 500 miles north of Vancouver. One of the things that struck me most about this story was the juxtaposition of traditional beliefs and ways of living, very important to Lisa’s family, with those of modern Canadian society and the friction between the two. This was amusingly depicted when as a child Lisa refused to read aloud from a schoolbook which misrepresented her cultural heritage and then loudly sang a protest song as she was escorted from the classroom. I was also struck by how much traditional knowledge had been lost and can only try to imagine the cost of this, individually for Lisa who had visions and premonitions but didn’t have the traditional knowledge to help her to better handle them, and for the community at large. The writing was excellent with the family relationships, sense of place, and connections between the people and the environment all being strongly depicted.

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isabelgrace7146's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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hanreadin's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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mcnamasa's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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bo0kf4n2's review against another edition

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reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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siobhanward's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

This definitely doesn't have the consistency of the Trickster series, but the story was still strong and engaging. Like in the Trickster books, all the characters were so interesting and well-developed that I was happy to keep reading, even at points that the plot faltered a bit. I found that part of the challenge in this book was that so many major events happened off-page, and were reduced to a brief mention. Their effects were sometimes felt deeply and for an extended period of time, but it was hard to connect that back to the events at times.

I love Robinson's work in general, though, so this was a pleasure to finally get my hands on and read!

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